by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

Not about his 12-catch, 145-yard performance in a Dallas Cowboys overtime victory. He's proud of that. He's sorry for a second-quarter reception when he scooted sideways out of bounds rather than take a hit for a possible first down.

Boos rained down on the suddenly productive third-year wide receiver -- first on the play, then a couple more times when it was replayed on the mega-screen.

"I was hearing it. I was," he said. "Man, that hurt my heart."

Bryant didn't realize where he was on the field when he opted out of contact on second down with three Cleveland Browns tacklers between him and a first down.

"When I seen where we was at, I was like, Damn. I didn't mean to do that," Bryant says. "It's not like me. It's not like me to run out of bounds. I seen like four or five guys coming so I took a step out. I didn't see the first down marker. That's my bad. I should've known where we was at on the field."

Other than what was interpreted as a lapse in toughness, Bryant had a dominant day against a Browns defense missing its top cornerback in Joe Haden due to an abdominal injury. Cleveland's remaining corners drew multiple pass interference and illegal contact penalties vs. Bryant, who caught a 28-yard touchdown pass to make 17 unanswered second-half points for the now 5-5 Cowboys.

"Dez played great today," said Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who targeted Bryant on 15 of his 50 pass attempts. "Looking at it, he went and got the ball in tough situations... You see what kind of player he can be when he plays football at the level that he can. That's exciting to see his work ethic pay off."

After disappearing in three games this season, Bryant has more than 80 yards receiving and a touchdown in consecutive weeks. Team owner Jerry Jones threw praise Bryant's way in his locker room press conference, but cut himself short. Jones is cautious about getting to high on Bryant, who's run the gambit of off-field trouble in his short time in the NFL. This week, he agreed to a year of anger management as part of a deal that could excuse him from a family violence charge resulting from a dispute with his mother.

"I've got a lot of stuff behind me. I don't want to jump into it, but I feel great," said the soft-spoken Bryant. "I feel like no matter how much anybody praises me it's not going to change my mindset. It's not going to ease me. I hear it, I take it in, don't let it get to me, and just focus on the game.

"I like what I've got going on right now. It's me being on top of my stuff. Coach stays on me all the time, and I love it. I don't get down, I take it all in."